Glassing the hull

We have had 3 sessions now, adding 2 layers of chopped strand mat and 1 intermediate layer of cloth. We had a couple of extra helpers for the first session - thanks Callum and Mal! That got the back half of the boat done, the following 2 sessions with just Bill and myself have completed the front half. Just the keel and the skeg left, sounds easy!

Bill made paper patterns for some areas, where there was quite a lot of shape. The midship areas were simply measured and the cloth left square.

The view from where I sit to write this has changed, it looks slightly more finished.

The - almost - finished hull. Next we get to the hard part, longboarding! As if the glassing wasn't a workout...

Where did the month go?

I don't see much of a result for all my work lately, I have been mucking around under the boat, filling and sanding in preparation for putting some fiberglass back on. We have removed the aft cradle props in readiness and should be able to glass up to the forward props. We are aiming to do this tomorrow and I have a couple of mates coming around to help out, we have had a lot of rain recently so we will have one eye on the humidity.

We have cut up all the glass we need, Bill sorted this so things should run nice and smooth. I have 60 litres of vinyl ester ready, gloves, masks, suits etc etc. It is quite a production!

Work inside the boat has been focused on the head compartment. Bill and I have worked out the final layout and Bill has created the plinth for the head, the vanity carcass and the rear bulkhead.

Yesterday I worked out the layout for the pump and plumbing system, I am reasonably happy with it and fingers crossed it will prove practical. One issue is the height of the anti-siphon loops as the deck in this area is quite low. I am trying to keep the loops as far inboard as possible, hopefully we won't sink on port tack!

In another one of my many jobs in progress, I am excavating the last hold-out of nasty rotten wood smells, the aft cabin. Most of this is now sitting on the trailer waiting for its last voyage - to the tip. It is good to see this disappear, it is the last cabin to construct, paint, wire, etc etc etc - maybe I shouldn't start cooling the bubbly for the launching party just yet!

Back in business

After an excellent week away after Christmas, it was back to boat-rebuilding reality. We have had nearly 2 weeks of work and the galley/head floor is glued down, following many discussions with Bill and I regarding placement or pumps, wiring and plumbing conduits etc etc etc. I sealed the kauri steps and they are now assembled and are clamped in place. They still need to be electropolished and varnished, but we need them as we are getting close to ripping out the remaining "old" boat, in the aft cabin.

Bill has fitted the remaining chainplates, which like the others, are glassed right down to the floor and connect through to the sub-floor web. The boat should be a lot stiffer than before! He has strated to fit the next partial bulkhead, which ties down to the front of the holding tank, forming the aft side of the toilet compartment.

We have also cut out the double ports in the aft end of the coachroof, ready for some toughened glass. There was a lot of rot around the edges so we have been forced to build up the inside edge with some double bias cloth, to provide something to stick to.

My last couple of days have been spent drilling holes in the keel and pouring thinned epoxy into the gap between the glass and the concrete filler. This has been draining for the last 6 months or so and is a lot drier, so we are hoping the epoxy will cure and hold everything together. I wasn't going to bother with this but Bill convinced me, it certainly removes the hollowness from large portions of the keel. I set up this little rig and screw a brass nipple straight into the glass, works a treat!

Heres another shot of the main companionway steps, it is a departure from the usual Peterson steps! They will look good when they are all shiny.

2008 progress

Looking back through the posts for me is always a good time, when you are on the coalface every day it is hard to see how things are progressing and it always seems to be moving forward at snail's pace. That is one reason why I wanted to keep the blog, as well as being able to keep our friends overseas updated. This week has been pretty slow as we wind down to Christmas. Here in New Zealand Christmas is really the start of summer, lots of people take a few weeks off to hang out at the beach, get away from the city, swim and maybe catch a few fish. So Christmas parties are a combined wind-up of the year and the start of holidays, so lots of us go hard at party time! By the time the big day comes around there is no more shopping to do, kids are out of school for the next 6 weeks, (hopefully) the sun is out and the business suit has been hung up on the floor for a while. Yippee!

The last couple of weeks of Weta work has been tied up with mocking up the new galley layout (again) to allow us to work out the cutouts in the floor. I have made reasonably detailed sketches and made lots of measurements for the galley making company to quote on. One of the major things behind that whole planning process is the need to be able to get the completed units into the boat. This affects the way each unit is built. No good having a great galley in the cockpit...






I have finalised the location of the stove and was very happy to find the new gimballing system works! It swings sideways and has saved a lot of really useful space.

The other thing I have been playing around with is improving the cockpit coaming storage. It has always been a dark, cramped area and stuff as always disappearing. With larger access holes I will now be able to tidy up the waterproofing and give the area a decent finish. This photo shows the new holes marked out and one cut.

This shows the completed cuts. It really does make the cockpit seem a lot bigger. I have found some poorly stuck fiberglass so it will be a nice little grinding job, Tyvek suit in the middle of summer. Can't wait!